Fishing in Western Australia? Now there's an app for that too

Not just at home: The app can be used offline and out of mobile range. Photo: Recfishwest

Electricity and water don't mix - but when you need to check whether you can keep the fish you've just caught, a digital device loaded with a fishing rules app can be pretty handy, especially now that paper rule books are now out of print in WA.

With warm weather finally here and fishers up and down WA's coast trying their luck, Recfishwest has developed a fishing rules app that can be downloaded to any device.

The app works offline and out of phone range, so fishers who venture far from shore and the madding crowd can still check their catches against the rules, and even log their fishing licence details.

We built the App to work offline and out of phone range as we know there's plenty of WA's best fishing spots that are so remote you can't access the rules via the internet and we didn't want people getting caught doing the wrong thing.

Tim Grose, Recfishwest

Built in-house and on a shoestring budget, Tim Grose from Recfishwest said the app is free to use and has had more than 50,000 downloads so far.

"Since the App's launch, we've (also) seen over 4,000,000 screen views – meaning the WA community really value the App and are using it to make their fishing better and stress free," he said.

"We're proud to provide such a useful and important tool for West Aussies to put in their pocket when they head out for a fish.

"We built the App to work offline and out of phone range as we know there's plenty of WA's best fishing spots that are so remote you can't access the rules via the internet and we didn't want people getting caught doing the wrong thing.

"There's an easy 3-step fish identification tool which the kids (and big kids) love, and one feature proving to be popular is the ability for people to log their fishing licences into the phone, meaning you don't need to carry your wallet around whilst fishing or worry about losing your licence cards."

The app also includes a Safety Tool that logs all boating safety equipment like lifejacket service, boat flares, EPIRB and motor service, and notifies users of their expiry dates.